Imbalance Of Power In JavaScript

Resynth — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 05:14:06 +0000

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From its inception, Node.js, a server-side runtime for JavaScript, has heavily relied on NPM. NPM is a closed-source, corporate package manager.

In many ways, NPM embodies the JavaScript ecosystem. Without NPM, JavaScript just wouldn't work. And this has happened. NPM has gone down before, and it's stalled developers in their tracks.

That's one of the problems with a centralised architecture: uptime.

Many of my followers will know that I actively oppose Cloudflare. Centralised structures that "just can't fail" end up harming and restricting users, instead of helping them power the open web.

They also stifle competition. Take Google, for example, who are now facing a huge anti-trust case, for limiting and actively stifling opposition. Google took advantage of the trust they've garnered from users, and now use that to prevent competitive search engines (like DuckDuckGo) from gaining market share.

All of these companies have one thing in common: they're very useful at what they do. Centralised structures have empowered us, but there's a substantial issue underpinning them: they create walled gardens, designed to entrap and, in many ways, actively harm the user.

In 2016, NPM received notice from Kik that one of their packages violated their trademarks. The package name was, of course, named "kik". This then led to a dispute between Azer, the maintainer of the "kik" package, and Kik, who went on to send baseless legal threats and egregious accusations.

Eventually, NPM sided with kik.

Although I disagree with NPM's decision, it does beg the question: what happens when these centralised companies do something wrong? Where do people move to from NPM?

The short answer is: you don't. The NPM command-line tool makes it especially difficult to switch from their package repository. Essentially, you have to persuade end-users of your package to adopt a new registry, by editing mysterious configuration files.

This isn't good enough.

How do I move away from Google?

Resynth — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 16:41:25 +0000

Moving away from Google is a laborious process; it's not going to be easy, so know that before jumping in.

Their systems are designed to keep you in their ecosystem, where you donate your personal data to them at no cost.

Instructions

📆 Step 1

Firstly, you're going to want to clear your calendar.

If you have around 300GB or more on Google's servers, like I did, it might take around a week to download all of it.

📥 Step 2

Request a data collection bundle from Google's Takeout.

You can use their user interface to select which types of data you want, and from what products. I would recommend you select them all, if you're planning to completely leave Google.

⏲ Step 3

Wait.

Google's Takeout systems might take around 2 hours to a whole day to collect your information. I had 300GB, and it only took them a few hours.

Your mileage may vary, however.

🕵️‍♂️ Step 4

Spoof your User Agent.

If you're using Firefox, you'll want to download this extension
Otherwise, if you're using Chrome or any derivative, you're good to go already.

The reason for this extension is to trick Google into thinking you're using Chrome, when you're actually using another browser.

Otherwise, Google will most likely throttle your download speeds, as they have done in the past for platforms such as YouTube for visitors using Firefox.

Anyhow, if you are on Firefox, you'll need to download that extension, and enable the "Chrome / Windows" setting.

🥡 Step 5

Download.

When the bundles have downloaded, you'll most likely get an email notification from Google.

Now, go back to Takeout.

You'll want to start downloading them now, before they expire (they expire in a week).

My advice would be to only download 4 bundles at a time. I believe Google throttles any subsequent concurrent downloads.

👋 Step 6

If you're feeling like a good Samaritan, you could even delete your Google account.

You can do that here.

I really hope this article has encouraged you to throw Google out of your life.

DEV Community: Resynth